


The Adventures of Standout and Everyman: a classic pairing

by Stayawhile



Category: Eureka, Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Stargate Atlantis, Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Archetypes, F/F, F/M, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Tropes, why do we write what we write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-14
Updated: 2012-06-14
Packaged: 2017-11-07 18:30:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/434084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stayawhile/pseuds/Stayawhile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An exploration of a classic pairing across several fandoms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Adventures of Standout and Everyman: a classic pairing

Fandom is all about diving headfirst into the worlds and characters that other artists have created. It’s about loving them, analyzing them, wanting to live in their worlds or tell new stories about them. Fan fiction, it sometimes seems, is about pairing up characters, creating full, complex relationships out of the hints we see in canon. While there are plenty of stories that focus on other aspects of the fictional worlds, ‘shipping’ drives a large proportion of fan fiction.

There is a pattern I’ve come to recognize across several fandoms I enjoy, a pairing with a particular dynamic between two archetypal characters. I call them Standout and Everyman. Since most of these pairings are two men, I will use the masculine pronoun, although I will discuss at least one pairing between two women which follows this dynamic.

Standout is a star in his world. Usually tall, dark, and handsome, he draws attention for his looks, as well as being noted for his brilliance at his job. He is frequently smarter than any other character. The Standout is arrogant about his abilities, and dismissive and rude to others whom he percieves as ‘lesser.’ He is demanding, a braggart, unpleasant and difficult to like. He does not care about anyone else’s opinions or feelings—at least, not where anyone can see him. In fact, he is hiding behind a scientific or intellectual approach to life. His weak point is human interaction, and while he wants friendship and romance, past disappointments have led him to mistrust others. His rudeness is a defense; he deliberately pushes others away before they can reject him.

Everyman is ordinary, or thinks he is. He isn’t bad-looking, but his appearance isn’t striking, and while he does his job well, he isn’t a star perfomer. He’s friendly, personable, and well-liked. The Everyman doesn’t draw attention to his successes and accomplishments, and often attributes them to luck or gives others the credit. While it isn’t immediately obvious, Everyman has a dark side. He has a past that includes violence and trauma, which he conceals under an easygoing façade. He keeps tight control over his violent tendencies, but has a strong protective instinct and will use violence to defend what he loves.

Initially, Everyman may be seen as Standout’s sidekick. Standout leads, and Everyman follows, taking on the mundane tasks that Standout considers not worth his time or talents. Standout is disrespectful and insulting to Everyman. It soon becomes clear, however, that Everyman plays an essential role. Not only does he support and encourage Standout, he frequently offers insights that help Everyman to solve the problems they encounter. Unlike the other characters, he genuinely likes Standout, or at least can work with him. He stands up to Standout, challenges him, and refuses to be driven off by Standout’s condescension and insults. In return, Standout comes to respect Everyman and regard him as a genuine partner; while still believing in his intellectual superiority, he appreciates Everyman’s contributions. He particularly admires Everyman’s ability to work well with others, a skill he does not have. One of Everyman’s contributions to their partnership is to smooth the way for Standout, using his charm and social skills so that Standout can be successful.

In a huge number of fanworks, this serves as the story arc: an initially difficult and uneven relationship gradually develops into a friendship/partnership. The growing bond between Standout and Everyman is either the text or subtext, a theme even in plot-centric action/adventure stories or ensemble pieces that include other characters and pairings.

The classic example of this pairing dynamic is Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Both in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and the new BBC series, Watson is originally presented as subordinate to Sherlock. His purpose is admire Sherlock, assist him, and to record his accomplishments so that others may admire the consulting detective’s brilliance. In this pairing, especially in Doyle’s writing, the reader comes to see Watson as a full partner, although neither Sherlock nor Watson fully recognizes this. 

Other popular pairings are variants on this theme. In Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard and Rodney McKay start on a more equal footing. His self-proclaimed genius, multiple PhDs, and position as head of the science department make McKay a Standout, but he is less classically attractive than Sheppard. As Everyman, Sheppard is thrust by circumstance into a position of leadership, for which many of the other characters doubt his qualifications. His past includes a failed marriage and a ‘black mark’ on his military record. Nonetheless, he is ranked equally with Rodney, and both report to the same supervisor. Both are strong characters who carry heavy responsibilities, and must work together to resolve crises that threaten the Atlantis expedition. They argue, but share the same goals and eventually become close friends (and, according to legions of fanfic writers, much more).

A less well-known fandom offers another example. At the beginning the SyFy series Eureka, Nobel-winning scientist Dr. Nathan Stark takes charge of Global Dynamics, a secret cutting edge research facility in the small town of Eureka. Jack Carter is the Everyman who arrives by accident, helps solve a problem, and becomes Eureka’s new sheriff. Jack is a former federal marshal whose problems include a recent divorces and a rebellious teenage daughter. Stark is an arrogant genius who is trying to win back his ex-wife, Allison, who also holds a high position at Global. While they are putative rivals for Allison’s affections and constantly express their dislike for one another, their amusingly insulting banter was a highlight of the show’s early seasons. They snark and fight over how to solve problems created by the town’s scientists and various experiments-gone-wrong, but their complementary skills and ability to work as a team are usually crucial to finding the solution. 

Xena, Warrior Princess, a 1990s show, also follows this dynamic. The two main characters are both women: Standout Xena is a former warlord on a quest for redemption, now using her exceptional fighting skills to help people. Gabrielle, who travels with her, assists her and writes about her adventures, is a Watson-style Everywoman. She starts as a small-town girl who dreams of adventure and hopes to become a writer (or ‘bard,’ in the show’s fake-Ancient-Greece vernacular). Xena initially rejects her, but Gabrielle follows anyway, and Xena eventually relents after Gabrielle proves her usefulness. Xena does not believe she deserves love or friendship, but when Gabrielle offers these things freely, she learns to accept and return it. Over the course of their adventures, the initial leader/follower dynamic becomes more equal as Gabrielle learns to fight--her staff, an apparently non-lethal weapon, underscores her innocence in contrast to Xena’s past as a ruthless killer. 

For series writers and producers, this archetypal pairing has practical advantages. Standout’s need to explain his reasoning and methods (that is, show off) to Everyman is an easy way to handle exposition. Everyman stands in for the viewer as the plot unfolds, and their repartée keeps necessary explanations from being dull. 

For fans and especially fanfiction writers, the pairing is rich in possibilities. Fans may identify with either character. Who among us has not been Everyman? By definition, most of us are average, and so we admire the exceptional, hoping all the while to be noticed, for the Standout to admire us in turn and acknowledge that we ourselves are special, talented, and necessary. At the same time, many of us can identify with the Standout’s status as an outsider, the sense that the things that make us unique and special must be squelched in order to fit in. Our anger at having to suppress some part of ourselves is assuaged by the Standout’s outright contempt for anyone who “doesn’t get it” (doesn’t get _us_ ).

In either case, the closeness between Standout and Everyman fulfills the need to be accepted and understood, to find someone with whom we can be fully ourselves, without pretense, and be truly appreciated for what we are. Each of these characters “completes” the other, their strengths and weaknesses matching up to create a more powerful whole.

All of these pairings allow for different interpretations: are they friends, or lovers? Canonical interactions may be interpreted as sexual tension and evidence of underlying attraction. Sometimes this subtext is acknowledged by the producers and alluded to in canon. For example, during an episode where Xena is trapped in the body of a male character, she kisses Gabrielle; later, Gabrielle becomes a princess of the all-female tribe of Amazons. The series’ first musical episode centers around reuniting Xena and Gabrielle after an estrangement; in the second, they plan to raise Xena’s baby together, and defend their choice to Xena’s mother by singing “Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves” with the Amazons. Sherlock (the BBC series) is less overt, but there is a running joke in which all the other characters assume that John and Sherlock are either dating or already a couple. 

Whether platonic or passionate, unrequited, betrayed or fulfilled, the story of Standout and Everyman is always a love story in some way. That, I think, is the key to the continuing popularity of this archetypal pairing in both original work and transformative work by fans.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts on these pairings, and examples of other Standout/Everyman pairings, especially male/female characters with a similar dynamic.


End file.
